Within 15 days of the judgment initiating the collective proceedings, the judicial representative shall notify the creditors are aware of the opening of collective proceedings for them to declare their claim. Where creditors are ‘holders of a published security right’, they are informed by registered mail.

The declaration of claim shall enable the creditor to obtain payment of his claim. Indeed, the claims undeclared are not taken into account in the collective proceedings and will therefore not be paid.

The debts the following shall be reported:

• Previous receivables to the judgment initiating the safeguard procedure, the judicial redress procedure or the judicial winding up procedure
• Subsequent claims the opening judgment and which do not benefit from the payment privilege (i.e. priority payment of other claims). Certain claims posterior at the opening judgment of a payment privilege, i.e. they do not need to be declared. They are those which intervene for the purposes of the procedure or the observation period or in return for a service provided to the company in difficulty.
• Some collateral granted by the company in respect of its claims. The declaration must specify not only the nature of the security, but also its plate.

The declaration of claim shall be made by one of the following persons:

• Legal representative of the creditor : this is the individual entrepreneur himself or the manager for a SARL: titleContent, the Director-General for a SA: titleContent with a board of directors.
• Agent (lawyer or Commissioner of Justice) or a " attendant the creditor who has received a power of attorney (for example, an employee with a delegation of power)

What is the form of the declaration of claims?

There is no formal requirement to make the declaration of claims.

It shall include the following:

• Amount of the claim due on the day of the judgment opening the collective proceedings, with an indication of the due date. Where the amount of the claim has not yet been established by a security or has not yet been definitively fixed, the declaration shall be made on the basis of a evaluation.
• Nature and plate of the safety with which the claim may be secured
• Arrangements for calculating interest which has not stopped
• Evidence to prove the existence and amount of the claim if it does not result from an enforceable title (for example, a judgment or notarized loan). In this case, it must be certified as sincere by the creditor.
• Court seised if the claim declared is the subject of a dispute

The supporting documents (copy of invoice, purchase order or delivery order) must be attached to this declaration under a voucher.

It exists standard form of declaration of claims:

Declaration of claims

How to file the declaration of claims?

The declaration of claims is usually sent by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt (RRA) to prove that the deadlines have been respected.

It shall be sent to the judicial representative or the liquidator in accordance with the collective procedure opened.

The time limit for declaring claims shall be 2 months from publication of the opening judgment (of judicial redress, judicial liquidation or safeguard) in the official gazette of civil and commercial announcements (bodacc).

Creditors with a safety (pledge, mortgage) or bound by a published contract (for example, a leasing) are notified personally by the judicial representative within 15 days of the judgment initiating the collective proceedings. The creditor then has a period of two months from this notification.

There are exceptions within that two-month period:

• Where the creditor is not located in mainland France, the time limit shall be increased to 4 months.
• Where the collective proceedings are opened in an overseas department or authority and the creditor is not located there, the time limit shall be extended to 4 months.

The creditor who has not declared his claim within the deadline (2 months) cannot get the settlement: it is considered as forclos.

However, the creditor shall have the possibility of declaring his claim after the time limit where the failure to declare within the time limit is not of his own making. This is the case, for example, when he was hospitalized or when the company in difficulty forgot to mention him in the list of creditors.

In this case, he must file a request for a statement of foreclosure at the Commercial Court Registry. It is addressed to the judge-commissioner in the 6 months which follow the publication of the opening judgment in the Bodacc: titleContent.

If the creditor obtains a favorable answer from the judge-commissioner, he can then to declare his claim within a period of 1 month following notification of the decision of foreclosure record.

The court representative or liquidator shall verify each of the claims declared, in particular, their existence and amount. It then draws up a list of claims declared together with its proposals for the acceptance or rejection of claims.

In the light of these proposals by the judicial officer or liquidator, the Judge Commissioner shall decide to the acceptance or rejection of claims. This statement of claims shall be lodged at the registry of the court where it may be read by any person. An insert is published in the bodacc by the Registrar stating that the statement of claims is established and lodged at the Registry

The parties and the organs of procedure may challenge the decisions of the Judge Commissioner before the Court of Appeal. Third parties (sureties, other creditors...) may lodge a complaint with the judge commissioner in the month following the advertising at the Bodac. Any challenges are decided by the Judge Commissioner.